He raised it high, and then brought it crashing down.
Lightning flashed, crackling around us, and thunder rolled.
My world spun in a flash of blinding pain, as everything I be, and had ever been, slammed to a halt.
And I screamed.
8
Anna
After Talakai vanished, I drifted in a sea of uneasy calm. Dreams came, and went, in random, small snatches of imagery.
I saw Talakai as a Dragon, soaring free across the sky. Matt, as a Dire, racing through the shadows of the trees. And Sebastian, his equine form rearing against the moon.
They appeared and faded before I could reach for them. My men. All lost to me, except for dreams.
And then something intruded on my consciousness. A sense of rage mixed with horror that permeated me to the core.
I was swept up in it. The plateau vanished, and I was surrounded by people. Not just people—one was the woman I’d last seen through Sebastian’s eyes.
She was leaning over me as though I were restrained, flat on the ground. And then another, a man with long gray braids—a Bellati? With eyes as cold as a snake’s.
The images flared, and then vanished, and then pain, like I had never felt before, surged through me.
And I screamed.
The scream echoed around me as I bolted upright in Matt’s bed. My heart thundered, and I struggled to breathe through the pain.
It wasn’t my pain.
Sebastian.
No answer. Trix licked my face, worried.
I was at Matt’s door before I was aware of standing, and I flung it open. A student coming down the hall stared at me in mild surprise at my abrupt emergence. He stopped dead as I pelted past him.
The window at the end of the hall showed the shadows lengthening into late afternoon. I’d been down for hours.
I headed for the stairs, and at the access doorway, I ran right into Mari bearing a tray heaped with food.
“You’re finally up,” she exclaimed, juggling the teetering tray. My dog pushed past me to bounce over to her, wiggling like mad. “I peeked in a while ago, but you were still out. I brought dumplings and chocolate hours ago, but I kinda ate them. So I went back for more.” She scanned my expression. “What’s wrong?”
“I need to talk to Cara.” I felt like I was going to be sick. Had I really sensed what I thought I had?
“Wait for me,” the ogress said. She disappeared into the room long enough to deposit the tray, then re-emerged and closed the door.
Trix trotted behind us as we headed for the stairs. I reached out, searching for Cara—
And swayed into the wall. The pain radiated off her—and off another. Bess.
My mouth went dry, and my heart twisted. It hadn’t been my imagination. She reached back to me, and I caught an impression of the lake. They were both out there, silhouetted by the sinking sun.
We saw them as soon as we went through the front doors. They were standing near the water, and their energy was jagged with emotion.
Anger. And despair.
Sebastian.I sent his name as we hurried out to them, and followed it up with,answer me.
